ARIJ 16th Annual Forum

“Cross-border Collaboration in A Fragmented World”

ARIJ Annual 16th Forum kicks off in Amman

Amman – ARIJ: ARIJ annual 16th Forum kicked off in Amman, on Friday, under the theme: “Cross-border collaboration in a fragmented world,” with the participation of around two thousand journalists and supporters of investigative and independent journalism in person and virtually.

More than 600 journalists participated in the forum in Amman, in addition to 1,300 participated online, the participants represent more than 60 countries.

More than 100 speakers participated in 40 sessions during the three days of the forum, which concludes on Sunday, December 3, with the announcement of the winners of the ARIJ 14th Annual Awards for the best Arab investigative reports. This year, more than 149 investigative reports were submitted for the award, from 16 Arab countries.

Investigative journalists from all Arab countries participate in the forum, along with fact-checkers and institutions specialized in supporting investigative journalism, training, and information technology leadership.

ARIJ Director General Rawan Damen said “This year’s edition comes in exceptional circumstances, with Israel killing dozens of male and female journalists in Gaza, Palestine, and in southern Lebanon. It is important to raise the voice to demand holding killers accountable and put an end to impunity”.

Damen stressed the importance of investigating war crimes, noting that “holding such a forum in these circumstances is both a shout and a challenge”.

Seven exhibitions will be organized on the sidelines of the forum (December 1 – 3): Journalists’ Safety Exhibition which contains pictures of dozens of male and female journalists who were killed in October and November 2023, VR – Physical Safety Exhibition, Art for investigative reports on the environment and climate Exhibition, Digital Safety Clinics, ARIJ Investigations, ARIJ AI Exhibition, and DALIL Exhibition for Combating Misinformation. In addition to individual clinics for physical, digital, psychological and legal security and safety, and clinics to support the funding of independent media institutions.

Since its inception in late 2005, ARIJ has trained more than 7,000 journalists, editors, and fact-checkers, and has supervised the production and publication of nearly 1,000 investigative reports and hundreds of in-depth reports. In 2020, ARIJ established the Arab Fact Checkers Network, which supports more than 38 institutions and initiatives from 12 Arab countries with training, networking, and innovation.

ARAB INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALISTS AND EUROPEAN ARTISTS COLLABORATE ON CUTTING-EDGE, CROSS-BORDER ENVIRONMENTAL STORYELLING TO CHANGE STORIES AND MINDS

PROJECT GIVES ARAB JOURNALISTS MORE TOOLS TO REPORT ON CLIMATE CHANGE ISSUES IN ONE OF THE MOST VULNERABLE REGIONS TO PHYSICAL CLIMATE CHANGE IMPACTS

To coincide with COP28 in Dubai, investigative journalists from Arab Reporters for Investigative Journalism (ARIJ) have been working with artists from the Royal Academy of Art, the Hague, to reimagine how we tell stories about migration birds and illegal hunting, wild fires and land grabbing, and water scarcity and corrupt climate financing.

The Rewriting the Climate Headlines exhibition will feature at the 16th annual ARIJ Forum in Jordan (1-3 December 2023), where investigative journalists from across the Arab world come together to share their experiences of holding power to account in the region.

At the event, alumni of the ‘Non-Linear Narrative at The Royal Academy of Art’ Master programme (KABK) will present at the exhibition and the session ‘Unveiling Innovative Ways to tell the Climate Story’, three new approaches to visual storytelling about environmental justice developed in collaboration with investigative journalists.

The session can be followed online on the 2nd of December at 19h00 CET after free registration on the website: ARIJ 16th Annual Forum. Together with the social media platform We Don’t Have Time, streams of each collaborative investigation will be published during the COP28 in Dubai to show how this work could counter resignation and climate change denial, and help spark more inclusive policy conversations with audiences.

“Cross border collaboration between artists and investigative journalists engaging in deep discussions to transfer visual investigations into art installations is cutting edge. We are very excited to see this extraordinary first of its kind experiment happening”, says Rawan Damen, the director general of ARIJ.

Why focus on environmental issues in the MENA region?

According to the Reporters Without Borders 2023 World Press Freedom Index, the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region “continues to be the world’s most dangerous region for journalists”. The region is also a “climate change hotspot” according to the United Nations, meaning investigative journalists working here are doing vital work to inform the world about extreme weather in increasingly challenging circumstances.

About the Rewriting the Climate Headlines collaboration

Starting in July 2023, the teams participated in a week-long summer school where participants heard experts from the fields of journalism, environmentalism and art. Artists and journalists looked together at emerging narratives of climate change impact, in order to investigate how media and politics frame the reporting on topics like forest fires, water scarcity and illegal wildlife hunting, which in turn shapes public opinion.

NOTES TO EDITORS

Participating artists: Nelleke Broeze, Sophie Czich, Jan Johan Draaistra, Cristina Lavosi, Daan Veerman and Hattie Wade

ARIJ journalists: Munir Al-Khatib, E’thar AlAzem, Ahmed Ashour and Mohammed Komani, Yassir El Makhtoum.

Project lead: Lauren Alexander, Rawan Damen, Niels Schrader and Boris van Westering

Project supervision: Lauren Alexander, Rawan Damen, Rosie Heinrich, Niels Schrader, Boris van Westering

Exhibition design: Julius Dusch and Suraya Latul

Graphic design: Jungeun Lee

Production: Dalia Barhoum, Zeina Hamouri and Liyan Shuhaiber

Special thanks to: Ingrid Gercama, Dougald Hine, Niekolaas Lekkerkerk, Marco Minoni, Ase Johannessen, Tracy Keeling, Gonzalo Delacámara

Logos: NLN, ARIJ, WE DONT HAVE TIME

For further comment and interviews:

Boris van Westering, borisvanwestering@gmail.com / +31611048469

Munir Al-Khatib, Editor-in-Chief ARIJ /munir@arij.net

ARIJ Announces Winners of the Arab Investigative Journalism Awards 2023

Amman – ARIJ: At the closing of its 16th annual forum, ARIJ announced the winners of the Arab investigative journalism awards 2023, for which 149 investigations from 16 countries were submitted.

Ramadan Younes received the Gold Award for his TV investigation, “My Secret Journey to Expose Doctors who Exploit Patients Like Me”, which was published in BBC News Arabic, and revealed cases of fraud, targeting Arab patients, carried out by clinics in Russia, the United States and the Middle East. The investigation is filmed and directed by George Hanton and produced by Nader Ibrahim.

The jury awarded the Silver Prize for the investigation “Egypt: Permanent Imprisonment.. The Series of “Repeated Imprisonment” runs “Contrary to Justice” by Egyptian journalist Isis Qassim (pseudonym). The investigation was published in partnership between ARIJ and “Almanassa” website, and revealed five cases of prisoners in Egypt, who were rotated from one case to another, without being accused of committing specific incidents, in light of the violation of their rights as defendants.

The bronze award was split in half between two investigations, Jihan Nasri’s investigation “Farmers in Kasserine, Tunisia, and Sergaz… Rental Agreement Wasting Rights and Resources” which was published in partnership between ARIJ and Al Jazeera Net, and revealed the failure of the “Sergaz” company to respond to the demands of farmers to increase the rent for the land through which the gas pipeline crosses Tunisian territory towards Italy.

The bronze award was shared by Hamza Hamky, for his investigating “Stolen properties.. How do influential people seize the properties of expatriates in Qamishli?”, which was published on Al Jazeera Net, and focused on the forgery of dozens of selling contracts in Syria.

A special jury mention was awarded to a cross-border investigation by a group of investigative journalists ‘Working in fear’: Some private contractors are accused of abusive labour practices on U.S. military bases”. The investigation, published on several sites, revealed violations against migrant workers in U.S. military bases in Gulf countries. This investigation won seven American and international awards, and was a collaboration between ARIJ, the ICIJ, NBC, and the Washington Post.

Another investigation received a special mention from the jury by journalist Ayat Khairy “Egyptian hospitals refuse to perform surgeries on women without their husbands’ consent”.

The jury was composed of: Bayan Tal, media and communication consultant. Naji Tamimi, producer for Al Jazeera’s Investigative Unit. Abdualla Maksour, novelist, trainer and producer at Al Arabi TV. Heba Kandil, senior manager, media initiatives, Thomson Reuters Foundation. Anass Bendrif, specialist and trainer in media and communication.

It is noteworthy that applying for the award was available to all journalists from all Arab countries and Arabs in the diaspora who produced investigations in Arabic, whether they were produced in collaboration with ARIJ or with other institutions.

Since its inception in late 2005, ARIJ has trained more than 7,000 journalists, editors, and fact-checkers, and has supervised the production and publication of nearly 1,000 investigative reports and hundreds of in-depth reports. In 2020, ARIJ established the Arab Fact Checkers Network (AFCN), which supports more than 38 institutions and initiatives from 12 Arab countries with training, networking, and innovation.